Peterborough School Revamp Scrapped

6 July 2010, 13:02 | Updated: 6 July 2010, 13:11

Plans to spend millions of pounds rebuilding and refurbishing two schools in Peterborough have been scrapped.

Peterborough City Council planned to spend £40 million totally rebuilding Stanground College and another £20 million improving Orton Longueville School.

However, as the Government is scaling back a programme to build schools in the future, the plans have been dropped.

The budget cuts also mean all secondary schools in Peterborough and four special needs schools will no longer be getting new computing equipment.

The future is not clear, however, for plans for a new £20 million Ormiston Bushfield Academy, as education secretary Michael Gove has announced the proposals are subject to discussion.

A contractor, Kier, has already been appointed to design and build the Ormiston Bushfield Academy, and Peterborough City Councillors are expected to approve the plans today.

Councillor John Holdich, cabinet member for education, skills and university, said:  “Our city council officers and the schools themselves have invested considerable effort in developing these plans so this decision is very disappointing for them.

However, we knew that the coalition government intended to scrap the Building Schools for the Future programme, which it viewed as inflexible and needlessly complex.

We will be seeking an urgent meeting with the Minister in the next two weeks to demonstrate our project offers value for money and is relatively free of bureaucracy and complexity and will deliver on time, on budget to maximise educational outcomes."